Attorney Michael Fox Charges the Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs With Illegally Refusing to Hire a Veteran Because He Was an 'Old White Man'

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Just as the nation prepares to celebrate Veterans Day and during the week proclaimed by Gov. Jim Doyle as "Hire a Veteran Week" in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs has been accused of flaunting state and federal laws by refusing to hire a highly qualified, top-ranked veteran as its public affairs officer because he was an "old white man."

A complaint filed today with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Equal Rights Division by Attorney Michael Fox, of Fox & Fox, S.C. charges the Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs (WDVA), and Secretary Ken Black, with denying employment to newly-retired career Army officer and Iraq veteran Lt. Col. Tim Donovan in violation of state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex and age, and also in violation of a state law requiring the WDVA to hire a qualified veteran for the position.

Donovan, 59, had the only perfect score and ranked first on the qualifying exam designed for the job by Secretary Black.  He was the only veteran to make a final interview for the position.  Black awarded the position to a 36-year-old female who scored 16th on the same exam and had no prior military service or experience with veterans affairs.  

Fox alleges that Donovan was far more qualified for the job than the candidate chosen.   He ranked first on the qualifying exam with a perfect score and was a proven success in every area of service required of the department's public affairs officer, having served for over 13 years as director of public affairs for the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs and having demonstrated a lifelong commitment to veterans and their concerns.  

A July 2009 article in Madison Magazine honored Donovan as one of the Wisconsin capital city's community "treasures" stating, "When the citizen soldiers of the Wisconsin Army National Guard began their ten-month deployment to Iraq this spring, among them for the first time was Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, the longtime public affairs officer held in the highest regard by private citizens, journalists and colleagues alike."

According to Fox, "At a meeting weeks before rejecting Colonel Donovan for the position Secretary Black told various WDVA department heads that the problem with the WDVA was that there were 'too many older white males' in the employ of the WDVA.  The denial of a job opportunity to Colonel Donovan appears to be part of a policy initiated by Secretary Black that discriminates against members of the very community the department was created to serve."

Wisconsin state law clearly requires the WDVA to hire a veteran for the public affairs officer position "if possible."  The governor's proclamation notes that "veterans bring unique knowledge, skills and leadership abilities from military service, have demonstrated their skills in contributing to and being members of a team, and have acquired specific technical and job skills that require little or no retraining."

"The WDVA has admitted Colonel Donovan was not only fully qualified for the position, but that he was the only veteran among the seven finalists who could possibly have been hired.  It is doubly ironic that we are compelled to bring this complaint against the WDVA as the department promotes Nov. 7-13 as 'Hire a Veteran Week,''' adds Fox, "but the testimony of the Secretary and the hiring panel taken in recent weeks leads us to no other conclusion than that Colonel Donovan was not selected based on illegal discrimination."  

"This isn't just about Tim Donovan," said Fox. "Colonel Donovan is but one of thousands of Wisconsin veterans who deserve to be treated fairly and according to the law and by a veterans department that actually recognizes the special skills of veterans."   In an article appearing in the October 14, 2010 edition of the Duluth Tribune, Black himself admitted that, "One of the most important ways Wisconsin can help veterans, and especially our returning veterans, is to help them find jobs.  Employment is a key factor to their success in other aspects of their lives."

"The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs' unlawful treatment of my client may be just the tip of an ugly iceberg of shameful disservice to men and women who stood up for their country only to see the state agency that's supposed to recognize the merit of their service coldly turn its back on them instead," Fox said.

As more and more veterans returned to Wisconsin over the past four years, the percentage of veterans hired by the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs has steadily declined, according to data compiled by the Wisconsin Office of State Employment Relations (OSER).  In the state fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, OSER reported that 12.3 percent of the department's 138 hires were veterans; then veteran hiring decreased to 6.3 percent in 2007; 4.9 percent in 2008, and to only 4.1 percent for 2009.  Disabled veteran hiring by the department for fiscal year 2009—the most recent data available—was just 1.6 percent.

A copy of the discrimination complaint is available upon request.  

About Fox & Fox, S.C.

Fox & Fox, S.C. is a nationally recognized trial firm that handles complex business, contract, securities, constitutional, civil rights, employment, professional malpractice and whistleblower cases. The firm has offices in Chicago, IL, Madison, WI and Milwaukee, WI. www.fox-law.com

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